by Imogen Elvis
THE
SHATTERING SONG
IMOGEN ELVIS
Copyright © 2019 Imogen Elvis
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Website: www.imogenelvis.com
Email: [email protected]
Cover design by Charlotte Elvis
First Printing: 2019
ISBN: 978-0-6485902-2-4
For my mum
You’re the reason I became a writer
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
CHAPTER ONE
Long fingers of sunlight slipped between the branches of the trees, lighting the track through the woods, and catching lazy motes of dust in their beams. The wheels of passing wagons had worn the path into deep grooves. Briar picked her way carefully along the rutted road. They’d met several carts already today, stacked high with boxes and sacks, pulled by teams of sweating oxen, their muscles rippling under their glossy hides. The cart drivers tipped their hats or called out good-natured greetings as they passed, and Briar waved back. But now, in the warmth of the late afternoon, the road ahead was empty.
A small breeze whispered through the leaves with a gentle hush, hush, while, somewhere beyond the trees, the river burbled merrily to itself, a more than welcome reminder that Briar and her friends were close to their destination at last. Briar blew at a strand of hair that stuck to her damp forehead, which stubbornly refused to move. “Are you sure we’ll reach Gathi before nightfall?”
Kade, a couple of paces ahead of Briar on the road, nodded without looking back. “It’s not far now.” Despite the heat of the afternoon, Kade’s hood was pulled down over his face. It hid his face from anyone they might meet on the road, but he must be sweating under all those layers by now.
“So you’ve been saying all day. I’m beginning to think this might be the kind of ‘it’s not far’ that makes us walk all night for you to be right.” Lara arched an eyebrow at Kade, though a teasing smile lifted the corners of her mouth.
“I can follow a map,” Kade said dryly. “We’ll be there before sunset.”
“Well, I hope we reach Gathi in enough time to visit the dock before nightfall. The sooner we can find a boat to take us to Miza, the better. It’s what, a week’s journey by river?” Lara asked.
“With luck and a good wind,” Kade said.
It was hard to believe that they might be no more than a week away from reaching Mizra. How long had they been on the road for now, travelling from the far northern reaches of Kerr? More weeks than Briar cared to count at this point. And now, to have the end so close, well she hardly dared to believe it. “Do you think Master Sachio has reached Mizra by now?”
“Almost certainly.” Kade’s fingers curled at his side, though his voice remained neutral. “Unlike us, Sachio isn’t a fugitive. The journey from the Crystal Tree wouldn’t have taken him nearly so long.”
“All the more reason for us to hurry.” Lara hitched her pack up on her shoulders. “He could have been crowned by now for all we know.”
“Don’t even think that.” Kade’s voice held an edge as sharp as his dagger.
“It’s a possibility, Kade. We should be prepared, just in case.”
“It won’t happen.”
“Of course not,” Briar jumped in hastily. “If Master Sachio had been crowned, the towns would be full of talk. News like that travels fast. Besides, he’s nowhere near as powerful as he was. Not now the Crystal Tree has taken back its leaf. He’ll have to work much harder to get what he wants.” Of course, as a member of the song council, his magic was still stronger than most magicians, but Briar kept that thought to herself. “Look. Could that be Gathi, do you think?”
Between the trunks of the trees, a scattering of low huts, built from sturdy logs, came into view. As Briar and her friends approached, the trees thinned out more and more, making way for the houses, which gathered together into neat rows. The road widened out here, splitting off into streets and laneways, though it was no less rutted than before.
“It’s about time,” Lara said. “I was sure we wouldn’t make it tonight.”
“You have such faith in me.” Kade cast Lara an amused look from under the edge of his hood. “I don’t often steer us wrong.”
“I have a great deal of faith in you,” Lara retorted. “It’s that map of yours that I don’t trust. The man who sold it to you was a cheat. But you were right. We made it before sunset no less. So now that we are here, I suggest we head straight down to the docks while it’s still light, and see if we can find a boat.”
They drew together into a tight group as they made their way deeper into Gathi. Out in the woods, with no one watching them, Briar could relax and pretend they weren’t fugitives. But here, the very houses seemed to have eyes, and she couldn’t believe that they were all friendly.
On the outskirts of Gathi, the houses were all squat log cottages. Smoke drifted from their chimneys in lazy curls, while children played on the doorsteps, or chased each other over the road, laughing. Three chubby toddlers poked at a puddle with sticks, their entire attention focused on this task as if it were the most important thing in the world. A couple of women stood at the side of the road, talking animatedly, though their eyes followed the children as they played. No one so much as batted an eyelid at Briar and her friends as they passed.
Further on, the houses gave way to a few shops. Here was a dressmaker’s shop, the window displaying a dress with a green satin skirt covered in spiralling silver embroidery, as delicate as spiderwebs, evidence of the shopkeeper’s skill with a needle. On the other side of the street stood a general store, its door propped open to let the townspeople, and the breeze, enter. Further on, Briar and her friend passed an inn, the only building in the town so far to have more than one storey. A sign hung over the door, with the inn’s name, The Defiant Robin painted in bold black and red lettering. Briar cast the building a longing look as they passed. It would be so nice to step inside the open door and rest for a while. But first, they had to visit the dock.
The burble of the river formed an undercurrent to the usual sounds of a town, all the voices and footsteps. The road sloped away, winding past a couple of large wooden warehouses. The door to one stood open, and a team of oxen stood outside, still hitched to their oversized cart, waiting patiently as a team unloaded boxes and sacks, carrying them inside the warehouse. A large, bearded man with streaks of grey through his hair whistled a jaunty tune as he heaved a sack up to sling it over his shoulder, the muscles in his forearms standing out like knotted cord.
And then, at last, Briar caught her first glimpse of the river, glimmering in the heavy light of the late afternoon. The road let out on the edge of a stone dock, and the full vastness of
the river spread out before her. Three jetties reached out like long fingers, and the water rippled as it swirled past. Two of the jetties were occupied with long, flat barges, made for hauling cargo up and down stream.
The nearest boat was fully laden. Boxes covered the deck, strapped down with ropes to keep them from shifting on their journey, while sheets covered piles of sacks, pinning them down. Painted on the side of the boat was its name, the Done Wishin’. A lone man stood on the deck, leaning his forearms on the railing and gazing out over the dock. He seemed relaxed enough, but his eyes followed every movement, latching onto Briar and her friends as they stepped out onto the dock. Briar’s skin crawled. He didn’t know them. But anyone could be a danger. And he took more interest in them than was comfortable.
If the Done Wishin’ was peaceful, the second barge couldn’t have been more of a contrast. Men and women marched up and down the plank, hauling sack and cates of goods from the barge to the dock. The bareness of the deck and the stacks of goods covering the dockside, indicated their task was almost finished.
An older man wearing a long, mossy green coat, stood nearby, overseeing the whole affair. He had set a large leather-bound book on top of a convenient crate and made marks in it with a charcoal pencil as the crew continued unloading their barge.
“That looks like the dockmaster,” Lara said, nodding at the man. “We should talk to him. He’d probably know where these boats are going, and whether the captains might take us on board.”
“I can-” Briar began.
“I’ll speak to him.” Lara strode towards the man, without giving Briar a chance to finish her sentence.
Briar pressed her lips together and fidgeted with the battered iron medallion that hung around her neck. Usually, she was the one who spoke to people in the towns. With her magic, she was usually able to tell if someone became suspicious of them, and turn their attention away, keeping them all safe. Not this time, apparently.
“Lara means well,” Kade said quietly.
“It’s alright.” Briar managed a tight smile. It didn’t matter who did what, as long as they ended up in Mizra, right?
Lara approached the dockmaster with a charming smile. “Excuse me. I’m looking for the dockmaster.”
“That’s me,” the man in the green coat said, without looking up.
“I was wondering if you had a moment to talk?”
The dockmaster glanced at Lara, his charcoal pencil falling still. “Of course.” The man raised his voice. “Take a break, ladies and gents.”
Someone let out a tired whoop, and the crew placed their boxes and bundles down where they stood, gathering on the dock, their voices immediately blurring into indistinct noise as they perched themselves around on the piles of crates and took a load off their feet.
“My name is Jacobi,” the man in the green coat said, taking a step away from his ledger. “I’m the dockmaster here in Gathi. What can I do to help you?”
Lara’s smile widened a fraction. “I’m looking for a boat heading south, which might be willing to take on some passengers.”
Jacobi scratched at the stubble on his chin. “Well now, the Sun Bird here’s just come up from the south coast, and they’re heading well up into the north, so they’re not going to be any good. Nice boat. Good crew. Wrong direction for you.”
“How about this one?” Lara gestured to the second boat.
“The Done Wishin’?” Jacobi hesitated. “Well, she is going south. But you’re not likely to get passage on her.”
“Oh.” Lara’s face fell almost as far as Briar’s heart did. “Why not?”
“The captain’s a cargo man. Doesn’t take passengers on. Ever.”
“Not for any reason?”
Jacobi shook his head. “Never, to my knowledge.”
“So, we’re stranded here?” Lara scuffed the toe of her book across the damp stones, and Briar was fairly certain the dejection on her face wasn’t all feigned. “I was hoping someone would be able to take us downriver. We’ve come so far…”
The dockmaster scratched the back of his neck with the stub of his pencil. “Well, I’m not saying for sure that you wouldn’t be able to work something out with Finbar. I’m just saying that I’ve never known him take passengers before. But you could get lucky. Who knows? If you want my advice though, your best bet is to wait a couple of days. There’ll be a southbound barge here by the end of the week for sure.”
“Thank you.” Real gratitude warmed Lara’s voice. “Where would I find Captain Finbar? In case I did want to speak with him.”
Jacobi shrugged, and when he spoke, he sounded resigned to the fact that Lara likely wasn’t going to take his probably very sensible advice. “He’ll be at the inn with the rest of his crew. I really wouldn’t get your hopes too high though.”
“There’s a first time for everything.” Lara smiled again. “Thank you for your help.”
“My pleasure. I wish you luck.” Jacobi turned back to the crew and raised his voice. “Alright, ladies and gents. Let’s get this done, or we’ll be here til moonrise.”
The sailors hauled themselves to their feet with good-natured groans, picking up their burdens again, Jacobi returned to his ledger, and Lara rejoined Kade and Briar with a triumphant smile. “We’ll find the captain of the Done Wishin’ at the inn. Which is perfect, as we had to go there anyway.”
“He did say Captain Finbar wasn’t likely to help us,” Briar pointed out.
Lara shrugged. “It’s worth a try. If he agrees to take us on board, then we get to Mizra quickly. If not, we wait for another boat. It’s worth a try.”
“I agree,” Kade said. “And with Briar help, we have a much better chance of convincing the man to take us.”
“I have confidence in us,” Lara said. “I can be very persuasive.”
“Are you planning on batting your eyes at him?” Briar teased. “Or using a knife?”
Lara raised an eyebrow at her good-naturedly. “Well, I don’t see you or Kade volunteering to seduce him.”
Briar had to laugh at the image of Kade flirting with anyone. Did he even know how to flirt? “I would love to see that.”
“Very funny.” Kade’s tone was dry, but Briar got the idea that, under the shadow of his hood, he was smiling. “I’d rather not count on my abilities in that area if it’s all the same to you.” He glanced around. “We should hurry. It’s getting dark, and I would like to be safely settled before nightfall.”
CHAPTER TWO
The edge of the sky was stained a delicate pink, and the breeze held a chill as Briar and her friends retraced their steps to the inn. The general store they had passed earlier, had closed its doors, and the shutters of the dressmaker’s shutters were bolted against the oncoming night. Townspeople passed them by, heading homewards at the end of the day. The red and black sign hanging over the entrance to The Defiant Robin was a welcome sight.
Kade held the door open for Briar and Lara. Smokey lamps burned on the walls, casting a dim orange glow over the large front room, which was filled with tables, surrounded by benches and clusters of three-legged stools. The lights danced in the draft from the open door, casting strange shadows over the walls. Kade followed the girls inside, closing the door behind him. With both the door and the shutters fastened, the inn had a friendly, cosy feel.
The Defiant Robin was by no means crowded yet. A scattering of townspeople had gathered around a couple of the tables nearest the bar, calling out good-naturedly to the innkeeper, who leaned his elbows on the countertop, listening to their talk. There were travellers here too, keeping to their own little clusters around the edges of the room, their packs sitting by their feet. They had the ragged, muddy appearance of people who had been on the road too long.
At the back of the room, a large fireplace glowed, not with the roaring fires of winter that fought back the bitter, bone-freezing cold, but just a little blaze to keep away the slight chill of the evening. A motley group of men and women had gathered near this fire
, covering three tables. They tilted back on the legs of their stools, sprawled across the benches, or perched on top of the tables themselves. Their bursts of raucous laughter filled the room.
Briar nodded towards the group. “They must be the crew of the Done Wishin’.” At least they weren’t hard to find.
“I can talk to Captain Finbar if you like.” Lara edged towards the sailors.
Kade shook his head. “Not this time. Briar and I will approach the captain, see if we can persuade him to speak to us away from his crew. Find us a table somewhere a little more private. I’d rather not discuss our business in front of the whole room.”
“I’m more than capable of speaking to the man myself.” Lara folded her arms.
“I know,” Kade said. “But we need to be cautious, now more than ever. Out of all of us, Briar is the best at that. You know this.”
Lara pursed her lips, a deep frown creasing her face. But, after a long moment, she let out a heavy sigh. “Fine. I’ll be waiting for you over there.” She turned on her heel and stalked off, heading for an empty table at the very back of the room.
“If you sense anything wrong,” Kade said, his eyes on the crew lounging before the hearth, “don’t hesitate. Tell me. We can’t afford to take unnecessary risks. Not now. Not this close to Mizra.”
“I will, I promise.” Briar took a deep breath and straightened her spine, feeling the weight of the responsibility descending on her shoulders.
Kade made his way through the empty tables, weaving a path over to the sailors. Briar followed in his wake, stepping close on his heels. She wasn’t afraid, of course. They were just going to talk to the man. But it was comforting to be close to Kade all the same.
As they approached the group, a woman with a sun-browned, weather-beaten face gave them a glance out of the corner of her eye as they approached, one hand moving to adjust the faded red bandanna tied around the top of her left arm. Briar swallowed hard as the woman’s eyes narrowed. Despite the fact that they had stepped closer to the fire, the air seemed to grow colder as, one by one, the crewmembers quieted, turning to face Briar and Kade.
